Otherworld Counterpart.
That was the name Lin Dong gave his cheat.
He didn't know what went wrong, but his transmigration had "split"—sending him into many worlds at once.
This misty plaza was the platform connecting all versions of him.
Here, as long as Lin Dong touched another version of himself, he could share memories and power.
After some exploration, the Lin Dongs gained a rough understanding of the sharing scope.
Shared "power" fell into three directions:
Physical attributes
Mental strength
Skills
As for memories, sharing depended on how much access the other side was willing to open.
Lin Dong's cooking improved so quickly because he'd received, from Cooking Master Lin Dong, the memory of over twenty years of relentless culinary training.
As for the man greeting him now—the Lin Dong dressed like a swordsman—
He'd transmigrated into the world of Demon Slayer.
Compared to DanMachi Lin Dong and Cooking Master Lin Dong, Demon Slayer Lin Dong had it far worse.
After arriving there, he became a bottom-tier drifter in a slum. Not long after, he was attacked by a demon.
If not for sheer luck—a Demon Slayer Corps member just happening to pass by—he would've died there.
That incident made him realize what world he'd landed in.
To survive, he joined the Corps, and soon after he arrived in the misty plaza.
After syncing, his physical qualities surged, and he quickly mastered a Breathing Style.
This time he came to deliver that good news.
Having shared the newly learned Thunder Breathing, Demon Slayer Lin Dong looked at the other two.
"Well? Can you learn it?"
"Seems like I can."
"No issues here either."
DanMachi Lin Dong and Cooking Master Lin Dong both answered.
In theory, all their worlds had some form of supernatural power.
But at the moment, their access was limited—DanMachi Lin Dong and Cooking Master Lin Dong were still stuck in "starter village."
The last to join—Demon Slayer Lin Dong—had become the first to touch real combat power.
"Good. If you can learn it, then you'll have basic self-defense in your own worlds."
He looked at DanMachi Lin Dong.
"The final selection is two months away. Before then, I'll raise my Breathing proficiency as much as possible. Physical growth—leave that to you."
DanMachi Lin Dong nodded. "No problem."
They were the same person. They all knew what was beneficial.
In fact, after sharing memories, they had already built a growth plan:
Demon Slayer Lin Dong raises Breathing proficiency and swordsmanship.
DanMachi Lin Dong uses that to go into the dungeon, farm monsters, and level up via Falna.
Cooking Master Lin Dong focuses on improving cooking.
Food was the foundation of life—whoever controlled deliciousness controlled the world.
It looked humble, but both Demon Slayer Lin Dong and DanMachi Lin Dong got their first startup capital thanks to his cooking.
By that logic, Cooking Master Lin Dong was the MVP.
...
Back in the DanMachi world, Lin Dong exited the misty plaza and found Hestia.
"Update your Falna?"
Hestia blinked mid-slurp, confused.
"Lin Dong… you went to the dungeon?"
"I didn't. I just trained a bit and wanted to see if my status increased."
"Mmm, I see."
Orario sat on a dungeon, so once adventurers received Falna, they usually went into the dungeon to fight.
But combat wasn't the only way to raise status—hard daily training could increase it too.
Lin Dong had only recently received Falna; caring about growth was normal.
The fact that he'd held back a whole week before asking for an update was, in her view, already impressive restraint.
"No problem. Let's update it now."
Hestia set down her bowl and brought him to the bed deeper in the room.
"Take your clothes off."
"Okay."
Lin Dong removed his shirt, revealing thick arms and a neat eight-pack.
"Eh? Lin Dong… did you get bigger?"
Hestia tilted her head and poked his abs—hard as iron.
Eight days ago when she'd carved his Falna, he hadn't been this built.
"My talent's good. A few days of training and I end up like this," Lin Dong replied casually.
In reality, this was the result of syncing other Lin Dongs' progress.
Both cooking and demon-slaying demanded physical conditioning.
To get stronger, Cooking Master Lin Dong and Demon Slayer Lin Dong trained daily.
And there was another factor:
Time flowed differently between worlds.
Only a week had passed here, but far more time had passed for the others.
Especially Cooking Master Lin Dong—based on their exchange, six months had gone by on his side.
Their accumulated training stacked onto Lin Dong's body, turning him from an ordinary guy into a muscle monster.
That was why he wanted Hestia to update his Falna.
He needed to confirm whether the physical gains—and the newly learned Breathing technique—would register in his status.
"Here. Tools."
Lin Dong handed her the needle and paper.
He turned and lay face-down on the bed.
"I'll leave it to you."
"No problem!"
Hestia climbed onto his back. The "front armor plates" wobbled dangerously—so much so that Lin Dong, who happened to glance back, nearly got knocked unconscious on the spot.
After adjusting her posture, Hestia pricked her fingertip with the needle and let a drop of blood fall onto the dense text on Lin Dong's back.
It was her first time doing an update, but she'd studied the procedure in advance.
Placing her fingers where the blood fell, she drew lines outward, updating the Falna.
"Huh?"
"What is it?"
"Your status increased a lot… and there's a new skill."
Hestia took up the paper and copied the updated Falna.
"Look."
Lin Dong — Level 1
Strength: I0 → H101
Endurance: I0 → H113
Dexterity: I0 → H107
Agility: I0 → H116
Magic: I0
Spells: None
Skills: Unify — The greater the number, the stronger the effect.
"Lin Dong… did something happen to you recently?"
"No."
"Liar!"
Hestia didn't believe him for a second.
Even though she hadn't been down here long, she understood Falna: skills were tied to a person's essence and state of mind.
You didn't just sleep and wake up with a new skill. That wasn't how this worked.
"…Fine. Something did happen."
Lin Dong said, "I found myself."
"You found yourself?"
Hestia tilted her head.
Even with her divine power sealed, a goddess was still a goddess—she could tell whether a child was lying.
And she could tell Lin Dong wasn't lying.
But then the question became: how does someone "find themselves" out of nowhere?
"You didn't get impulsive and secretly run into the dungeon, did you?"
On the brink of life and death, people had sudden enlightenment. In Hestia's head, the scene had already formed: Lin Dong bored of fried rice, charging into the dungeon, fighting monsters for three hundred rounds, then achieving sudden awakening.
"I didn't go to the dungeon."
That was true.
"Then how did you find your true self?"
"I slept and woke up and found it."
…Also true?
Hestia's eyes widened, disbelief written all over her face.
"That's not reasonable!"
"It's reasonable."
"But—how? Why would sleeping awaken that?!"
"It's on. I didn't turn it off."
"..."
Hestia fell silent.
She couldn't understand why such a nonsense answer still carried no trace of falsehood. It was all true.
"Right—Hestia. Starting tomorrow, I'm not running the stall for a while."
"Eh? Why?"
Hestia's attention snapped away from the mystery.
"Training on the surface is too slow. Farming monsters in the dungeon is more efficient."
"Mm… okay."
Hestia was cheerful by nature; she didn't restrict her child.
"By the way, have you bought a weapon?"
"Not yet."
"Then tomorrow we'll go buy one together!"
Hestia slammed the decision down.
For Lin Dong's safety, she needed to step up too.
...
-------
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